Silkwood

“Chemical engineer Karen Silkwood (Streep) leads a laid-back life, filled with the simple pleasures of beer, joints and sexual freedom, alongside her boyfriend Drew (Kurt Russell) and her lesbian friend Dolly (Cher), who both work at the same plant, a laid-back life filled with light-hearted pleasures such as beer, joints and sexual freedom. That all changes as it becomes increasingly clear just how extremely harmful the radioactive radiation in the plant is, contaminating the workers due to inadequate safety measures – a fact that is categorically downplayed by the company’s management. Karen begins to get involved in the trade union movement, which, however, does not win her any friends; on the contrary: even Drew takes a break from the relationship, whilst Karen sinks ever deeper into the quagmire of her investigations …” (Marie Anderson, kino-zeit.de, Sep 2012)

‘The character fascinated me. Regardless of what I think in real life: to play a role convincingly or to give free rein to my imagination, I need a certain challenge and a character with complex issues. What I liked about Karen was that she wasn’t at all like Joan of Arc. In some respects, she was rather unsympathetic, and yet she acted very well.» (Meryl Streep, American Film Magazine, 1983)